SALON

Friday, Jan 11, 2013 7:00 PM UTC

Groups deliver cases of comments on NY gas regs

By

Topics: From the Wires,

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — As Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration nears completion of regulations that could lift a 4 1/2-year-old ban on shale gas drilling in New York, opposition groups have ramped up efforts to persuade the governor to say no to fracking.

Environmental, health and community groups opposed to shale gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” say they collected more than 200,000 comments during an intense 30-day effort featuring online coaching and comment-writing workshops at churches, community centers, food co-ops, coffee shops and holiday house parties from New York City to Buffalo. They gave cases of comments to regulators on Friday, the last day to comment on proposed drilling rules.

Adding star power to the opposition were Yoko Ono and her son, Sean Lennon, who urged Cuomo to reject fracking.

Industry representatives were also delivering comments to the Department of Environmental Conservation, arguing that the proposed rules are so strict they’ll effectively prevent drilling in New York’s part of the Marcellus Shale formation.

DEC must read and respond to the comments. The agency received 66,000 comments during a four-month comment period on the earlier version of the regulations and the 1,500-page environmental impact study, and took most of 2012 to read, categorize and respond to them.

DEC has a deadline of the end of February to finalize the regulations. Otherwise it has to draft new regulations and hold additional hearings, potentially adding months onto the process.

Fracking, a technology that releases gas from shale by injecting a well with millions of gallons of chemically treated water and sand, has made it possible to tap into deep reserves of oil and gas but also has raised concerns about pollution. Regulators contend that water and air pollution problems are rare, but environmental groups and some scientists say there hasn’t been enough research on those issues.

The technology has drawn intense scrutiny since the focus of gas drilling companies has shifted in recent years to the Marcellus Shale, a massive rock formation underlying New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

“We’re delivering these comments to DEC, but they’re very much directed at Gov. Cuomo,” said John Armstrong of New Yorkers Against Fracking. “We think this is truly a statement to the governor that he has a responsibility to follow through on his promise and base the decision to frack or not to frack on the science.”

Armstrong said the comment letters “are very clear that no regulation can make this safe, and they should ban it.”

Ono and Lennon lead the group Artists Against Fracking.

Albany lawyer Tom West said he’ll deliver comments he’s prepared for drilling industry clients on Friday. He said the regulations are excessively strict, with numerous arbitrary provisions that make it impossible to site a well in many areas.

“The bottom line is, there are many additional requirements that have been piled onto the proposal from 2011 that don’t have a factual or scientific basis and will make it very difficult to drill in New York,” West said. “Industry can only take so much. We’re willing to live within a high environmental bar, but it has to be attainable.”

“The enviros will get what they want, very limited drilling,” West said. “Landowners will be left out in the cold, and there will be very little economic development in the Southern Tier,” the area of New York north of the Pennsylvania state line where drilling most likely would take place.

By Mary Esch

More By Mary Esch.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations